Border War rivals hope to boot their troubles away

CSU and Wyoming are throwing records out the window for annual rivalry game.

Nov. 2, 2012

CSU?s Charles Lovett breaks into the open field in the Rams? 42-27 win over Hawaii on Saturday at Hughes Stadium. Lenn Stout/The Coloradoan Charles Lovett breaks into open field in game against the Hawaii Warriors at Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Ft. Collins. / Lenn Stout/The Coloradoan

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LARAMIE, WYO. — Throw away the records.

That’s what coaches like to say you can do when you play a rivalry game.

And CSU’s Jim McElwain and Wyoming’s Dave Christensen clearly embraced that approach this week as they prepared their teams for Saturday’s Border War game.

The Rams (2-6, 1-3 Mountain West Conference) and Cowboys (1-7, 0-4) would rather not dwell on all the things that have gone wrong for them this season. This week, they didn’t have to.

Thoughts instead turned to the Bronze Boot, an actual bronzed boot worn in combat in Vietnam by former Colorado State University ROTC instructor John Romero that has served as the traveling trophy in the Border War since 1968.

CSU last won the boot in 2008, winning a season-finale at War Memorial Stadium that gave first-year coach Steve Fairchild’s team a 6-6 record and berth in the New Mexico Bowl. Wyoming won it back in 2009 at CSU’s Hughes Stadium to secure a New Mexico Bowl berth of its own in Christensen’s first season. The Pokes haven’t let go since.

“I had the guys raise their hands who have ever physically seen the boot, and that was an eye-opener for me,” McElwain said, noting that the only hands that went up belonged to a few fifth-year seniors who were sitting out as redshirts when the Rams last beat Wyoming.

One of those players was senior tackle Joe Caprioglio, who remembers the excitement at the final gun, as CSU’s players rushed over to the Wyoming sideline to grab the boot and begin a wild celebration. It’s a scene he’s seen repeated each of the past three years – by Wyoming.

“It hurts,” Caprioglio said.

It makes this “the most important game of my career,” said linebacker James Skelton, another of CSU’s fifth-year seniors.

“It’s very important for everybody to get this boot and bring it back to where it belongs,” junior center Weston Richburg said. “I would love to get it for Lou (Greenwood), for Joe Cap, all those guys that haven’t had it their whole time here.”

While the Rams are hoping to build on their first win since their season-opener, a 42-27 victory last week over a one-win Hawaii team, the Cowboys are trying to snap a four-game slide that began with a 35-28 overtime loss at Nevada in their next game after picking up their lone win, in overtime Sept. 22 at Idaho.

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Wyoming lost its first home game of the season by three points to Toledo, its second by two points to Cal Poly and its third by one point to Air Force.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s obviously something that you can’t dwell on,” sophomore quarterback Brett Smith said. “We just have to focus on the task at hand every week, so I think that’s what everybody’s doing. With the players Colorado State has, you can’t be feeling sorry for yourself this week, because they’ll get you if you’re not prepared.”

The Rams are trying their best not to feel sorry for themselves, either. They’re starting a redshirt freshman, Conner Smith, who was their No. 3 quarterback at the beginning of the season, and trying to piece together a defensive line down two of its three starters because of injuries and a defensive secondary that’s lost two of four starters to injuries.

They’ve got an offense that ranks among the NCAA’s worst in rushing yards (No. 110 out of 120), total yards (No. 106) and scoring (No. 110) and a defense that’s been only slightly better at No. 102 against the run, No. 80 in total yards and No. 85 in scoring.

And like last week’s game against Hawaii, they’ve got an opponent going through similar struggles. Wyoming’s No. 95 in rushing yards, No. 92 in total offense and No. 88 in scoring offense and No. 104 in rushing defense, No. 105 in pass-efficiency defense, No. 97 in total defense and No. 105 in scoring defense.

Fortunately, the players and coaches said, this is a rivalry game where none of that matters.

“This is big for both programs,” McElwain said, “I know they put as lot of emphasis on it, as do we. It’s been a long time since that boot has been here in Fort Collins.”

Said Christensen: “The Border War is the biggest, most important football game each and every year in this program, and it always will be that way, I imagine, until the end of time.”